The Soldier's Wife: A Novel

DAN RILEY IS A MAJOR IN THE BRITISH ARMY. After a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is coming home to the wife and young daughters he adores. He’s up for promotion and his ex-Army grandfather and father couldn’t be prouder. The Rileys are united in support of Dan’s passion for his/b>/b>

Overview

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN LOVE AND DUTY COLLIDE?

DAN RILEY IS A MAJOR IN THE BRITISH ARMY. After a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is coming home to the wife and young daughters he adores. He’s up for promotion and his ex-Army grandfather and father couldn’t be prouder. The Rileys are united in support of Dan’s passion for his career.

But are they really? His wife, Alexa, has been offered a good teaching job she can’t take because the Army may move the family at any time. Her daughter Isabel hates her boarding school—the only good educational option for Army families—and starts running away. And Dan spends all his time on the base, unable to break the strong bonds forged with his friends in battle. Soon everyone who knows the Rileys is trying to help them save their marriage, but it’s up to Alexa to decide if she can sacrifice her needs and those of her family to support Dan’s commitment to his work.

With her trademark intelligence and grace, Joanna Trollope illuminates the complexities of modern life in this story of a family striving to balance duty and ambition.

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Meet the Author

Joanna Trollope has been writing fiction for more than 30 years. Some of her best known works include Daughters-in-Law, TheOther Family, The Rector's Wife, A Village Affair, Other People'sChildren, and Marrying the Mistress. She was awarded the OBE in the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honors List for services to literature. She lives in England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I am an ardent fan of Joanna Trollope. Naturally, I was anxious to read &ldquo;The Soldier&rsquo;s Wife,&rdquo; her latest novel. Having said, I must also admit that I had a feeling of deja vu as I read it. I then realized that &ldquo;The Soldier&rsquo;s Wife&rdquo; is disappointingly a reworking of her earlier novel, &ldquo;The Rector&rsquo;s Wife.&rdquo; Change the setting from church to military; have the wives feel inadequate, unhappy, and unfulfilled; add a daughter who is miserable at school, and voila! a new novel. That is not to say that I didn&rsquo;t enjoy the update. I did. And both novels did result in the women&rsquo;s realizing that there should be some agency to help rector wives and military wives understand their roles. I guess it all worked out in the end.

Mary30PA

More than 1 year ago

I think the author did a good job of describing what 'real life' might actually be like for (at least some) soldiers, after they return home from 'the front lines.' Reentry is not always easy - for the veteran or their family.

sandiek

More than 1 year ago

Alexa Riley is home, alone, waiting. Today is the day Dan returns home from his military tour in Afghanistan; six months away from home, the marriage, the children, everyday life. How will it go? The books all say there will be a period of adjustment, but that doesn't apply to them and their storybook marriage. Does it?
But once Dan is home, things are different. Alexa has changed and so has Dan and there are many other factors to consider. Alexa is offered a great job, but one she knows she cannot accept since Dan could get orders to move them any time. Their oldest daughter is desperately miserable at boarding school. Their parents are worried, as are their friends. One of their oldest military friends' marriage seems to be totally falling apart. Dan and Alexa are talking at each other, not to each other, and the strain and distance grows daily. Can they find their way back to each other before all is lost?
Joanna Trollope has written a convincing book about the rigors of military life and how it affects not only the soldier but all of their family and friends as well. She outlines the routines of military life, the commitment that can leave families feeling like a second choice, the demands it places on the soldier. Some can handle it, some cannot, but all must carefully find their way through the debris of everyday life to a place where family is primary. This book is recommended for readers interested in current family relationships and how they go awry and can be healed.

JCgirl

More than 1 year ago

The story a group of women married to military men. These women must cope with the army rules, the loneliness and readjustment of husband's coming home. I like this book because it about the English military and the stress of deportment on the family. It told the good and bad of military life.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

The Soldier's Wife by Joanna Trollope was recommended to me by my eighty five year old mom who thoroughly loved everything about the book. Although overall I liked this book and found the facts interesting because the perspective was told from a British soldier serving two tours in Afghanistan there were times when I resented the life he expected his family to live. Not only the toll it took on his wife and children trying to keep the home front running but even when he was home his heart was with his men and their problems . He himself was suffering from PTSD but refused help while he took care of the army's needs.I felt as though his wife was putting all of her hopes and dreams on hold. Coming from a long line of military men, I found their families also making compromises to deal with an uncompromising army. I also think the image of what we were fighting in my mother's generation was clear and in general were victories. My generation fought Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan which in my view seemed futile. I did think the ending was a believable compromise . My mother's view of his wife was a true hero while mine was that she sacrificed herself for her husband, children and the army.

wilVD

More than 1 year ago

As with other works by Joanna Trollope she draws her charaters with strenght and compassion. Both sides of her emotional issue have 'right'
and 'wrong' and she brings about the 'center' that works.
I would recommend this to women with children (probably) forties and above.